Hey all,
I'm in the early stages of converting a 1983 Raleigh Olympian to a fixed gear/singlespeed and so far have learned just how much I didnt know about fixed gear bike builds. My Dad owned this bike from day 1 and the frame is in perfect condition. Being on a budget, I have to do some bargain shopping but it looks like I'll have to spend a bit to get it up and running the way I envisioned.

I came across the Vuelta zerolite wheelsets and they seem to have decent reviews for the money and fit my budget.

Question is: the horizontal dropouts measure 126mm and from what it looks like, the hub spacing is 120 on the rear wheel...will this wheelset work once I snug up the axle bolts or must the hub match the frame spacing? The front fork spacing is 100 and will be fine with the front wheel from what I can tell.

If this is a rookie question, point me in the right direction please and feel free to offer any other advice I can use in this project. Next up will be new brakes (yes brakes on a fixie at least until I get the hang of it). The stock dia-compes probably wont reach the 700c wheels, and appear to be about 2mm short.

Thanks for any help
Tom

6mm is pretty neglible as far as spacing goes, the right way would be to use axle spacers which are also helpful when working out a straight chainline.

As for the 27" brake calipers not reaching the 700C wheels, you'll need long reach brake calipers. Tektro makes a great caliper that doesn't break the bank.

Great, I'll add spacers to the list of things I need so far.
It looks like the best route to go is new brakes and drill out the brake bridge/fork for the recessed nut. Tektros it is.

Here are a couple pics of it so far...

Tektro makes nutted long reach calipers as well, so you can save yourself some potentially disastrous drilling there.

Or you could probably just grind the slots on the original brakes to get yourself the extra 2 mm of adjustment.

Thanks Seau- I found these: https://www.cycleclubsports.com/p-665...FRGg4Aodf3gAhw

they don't help my budget much but would be better than drilling the frame i suppose (i'm beginning to like the brakeless idea).

Once I get a new set of wheels may give Diegofrogs suggestion a try and break out the dremel.

Next issue is which crank set to go with and tackle these intimidating chainline issues I keep hearing about. That may be a new thread.

He could do that too but it looks like from the pictures he still has the original single pivot calipers, modern dual pivot calipers are leagues ahead of them with stopping power. An upgrade worth it in this case.

Take a look at the Start Here thread for newbie info and articles on converting your bike to a fixed gear.

Not a problem.

Use the recommended bottom bracket for the crankset that you use.

The myth about chainline difficulty is perpetuated solely by people who think it's a really big deal.

Appreciate all of the responses so far, it looks like I've got some more reading to do before committing to this project. Originally I figured I'd find all of the parts I needed, order them all at once and spend a day building/converting this thing for around 200 bucks, but maybe I should concentrate on finding wheels that will work for starters.

I just remeasured the dropout spacing (more carefully this time) and came up with 130mm which leaves me wondering if the zerolite track wheelset may be a problem with their standard 120mm spacing. Would adding a couple 5mm spacers to the axle work or am I going to run out of exposed thread when the wheel sits in the dropouts? There doesnt seem to be any info on the overall axle length in the specs.

This daylong crash course in fixed gear conversions is starting to give me a headache but the various pics of conversions that others have done is keeping me motivated.

Thats good to hear, I've built up a few singlespeed mtn bikes without any chainline issues at all but it seemed easy when your working with a freewheel and plenty of spacers to move the cog around on.

As long as you get the right bottom bracket for your cranks, your chainline should be fine. I've never used a Vuelta wheel before, but I would assume they have enough axle for a few mm of spacers on either side, since every other wheel I've ever used has.

order wheel s from velomine and ask him to space them accordingly, he will do it for free.

The width of your hub isn't an issue, just add the required spacers.

With the brakes, buy two FRONT brakes. You'll need to drill out the fork for the recessed nut, but that's no real problem. The rear bridge is a bit more scary but the front brake has a long enough bolt on it to allow you to use a nut on the rear.

seau grateu said earlier If that's as it reads, you won't need to drill anything.

Have fun. Don't rush the project. My Europa took over three years for her full conversion ... and she was being ridden all the time, I just did things as I felt I needed them and as I could afford them.

Alright, thanks to the help here I've made some progress today and ordered a set of wheels from velomine that will be spaced out to 130. Now on to the crankset, bb, and brakes.

Europa, I found a set of brakes as Seau described... https://www.cycleclubsports.com/p-665...FRGg4Aodf3gAhw
and will not have to do any modifying but the 2 front brakes is good advice , drilling out the bridge had me a little nervous.

Goin over budget already but going forward with it anyway.

Harris Cyclery has the brakes for cheaper. I'm ordering some myself for a conversion that I'm working on this week. Sheldon Brown's site also gives some good detail on how to make sure you get the right ones, and measure it accordingly.

Thanks Hover, I saw they had them for a good price at Harris but ended up getting a set of nutted Tektros from Modernbike.com fairly cheap as well as a set of Cane creek levers. Little by little its starting to come together.

Had to flip the ring to the inside in order to get the proper chainline and now trying to figure out how to get the right chain length and tension with the current 46x18 ratio. Seems to be falling between too short/tight or too long/loose...maybe a half link is the answer but I dont have one handy.

You just move the wheel back in the dropouts if it's too loose.

Maybe I'm missing something? That's the whole reason that the horizontal dropout is useful in such endeavors.

yes, horizontal dropouts and I'd hoped it would be that easy also.
I have the axle backed all the way to the rear of the dropouts and a bit of slack remains but may be fine. When I shortened the chain, the axle position was at the very edge of the dropout.
If the remaining slack ends up being a problem and the chain starts dropping, I may just go to a 17t cog or try a half-link i suppose.

The dropouts are probably close to 1" long, no? Adding or removing a link should cause it to move by 1/2"

I just measured my Campagnolo dropouts, and they have about 1" of usable dropout length (and I have the axle positioned near the front). I could add a link and be close to the back end of the dropout.

They are about an inch or so long and I think I just needed to make a better effort at pulling the wheel back while snugging up the axle nuts because now it seems tight enough. Although Ive been riding for quite some time, both road and mtn, this fixed gear build has shown me I have a lot to learn.

Chain tension a single speed isn't just a matter of pulling the wheel back and tightening the nuts. Sheldon Brown describes a good method here. Basically, you 'walk' the wheel backwards by loosening one nut at a time and it's quite easy to set the tension just where you want it this way.

As a side issue, this is why I don't like quick releases for fixed gear and, to a lesser extent, SS, your chain will always be on the loose side with them (in my experience anyway, YMMV)